Quick Fit with Cassy

- Hello, I'm Cassy, and this is Quick Fit , your daily workout so you can live better, longer.

Today's class will be a bit different, in that we'll be using a common broomstick.

It's a great tool and you'll soon see why.

So let's get started, working from your shoulders to your hips.

[upbeat music] Now you can use any broomstick or mop stick, as long as it's a little wider than the way you can grab.

If you don't easily have a broomstick or a mop handle, then just use a towel, a band, or just stretch your arms.

All right.

What's unique about the use of a stick though, is that it keeps your arms wide and allows one arm to more effectively stretch the other, as you'll soon see.

So just start with some very easy swings to loosen up the shoulders, [inhales and exhales] and you can start adding a little bit of a twist, and just letting the momentum carry the stick and twist you.

Good, inhale, [inhales] exhale, [exhales] and remember, you can let that heel lift as you twist, to make it more comfortable on your knees.

All right.

Now let's go a little further around, and the other way.

And then we'll start moving it behind you, and then up, and then let the end of that stick drop down behind you, and it really stretches this far arm.

And then let's come around the bottom, making that stick go behind you, and now push the stick up overhead.

And then we can go down again, behind, pull your abs in as you're at the bottom, and lift.

Pausing briefly at the top, stretching those shoulders, and down.

Now let's reverse after this big twist here.

Hang down lower as gravity pulls you at the bottom and then stretch up taller, letting your arms fall back.

As you're warming up, reach it behind you, and up.

Good job, one more time, stomach's in, supporting that spine, enjoy a little pause at the bottom, and then twist around, and up overhead.

Very good.

All right, now hold it here a minute and just let gravity pull that bar back, opening up the armpits, stretching your upper spine.

Make sure you're pulling in your abs.

[inhales] Good, and now let's try a little trick.

I want to stretch this shoulder, okay?

So if you're mirroring me, this is going to be your left shoulder.

So I want you to take your right arm and push it up from the bottom, grip it at the top, but push up from the bottom, and you'll feel it opening up that shoulder joint, okay?

Good, it's just a nice stretch.

Do whatever you have to do with your bottom arm to get the strength to push.

Good.

It is really, really a nice stretch to the top, to the top shoulder of the top arm.

Okay, now the other hand, it's gonna push from the bottom, adjust your hand however you need to, get a good grip at the top.

Ready?

And push up, hang on, and enjoy the stretch to the shoulder.

Feels really good.

[inhales and exhales] Exhale.

All right, let's adjust those hands.

Bring 'em in a little bit closer.

And we're going to, maybe about, just a little bit wider than your shoulders.

Okay, and now press it up overhead.

Make sure you're completely stretching your arms.

Don't leave your elbows bent.

Stretch them up and down.

Press up right from the shoulders, get the shoulders up by the ear.

Come on down, press it up.

[inhales] Hold it here.

[exhales] Let those arms move back, and down, and up.

[inhales] Okay, if you are flexible enough to let the bar go behind you a little bit and come down behind your back, not behind the neck, but behind the back, then do that.

Otherwise you come down in the front, you're making like Ws with your elbows.

You see the way they're bent?

So either it's in front of your body, or you go a little bit to the back by opening up your hands a little wider.

Okay, that's the trick.

Open up the hands a little wider, allow that bar to go behind your back, and enjoy that chest stretch.

It's wonderful, just make sure you're not letting it pull on your neck.

Not worth it.

And up, and now let's do a few good mornings.

So you'll let your hands hang right straight down from your shoulders.

And now from the side, this is the way I'd like you to bend over.

Pull in your abs to support your low back, and you'll pull, elbows up, then let it fall down, sweep it forward with a lift, pull it back, [exhales] pull those elbows up.

Using your back to lift the bar, sweep it forward, [inhales] exhale, pull it back.

Reach, reach, reach, using those shoulders and back muscles.

Squeeze.

[exhales] One more, reach, and back.

Good, I love those rows.

Anytime you can do anything that pulls, with the elbows pulling to the back, you're going to be strengthening those weak back muscles.

And they just get weak just from poor posture all the time.

So okay, so let's stand up and we're going to use the post for balance.

So I'd like you to lift your outside leg up, a little bit of balance, and we'll do a few bicycles.

Okay, lift, extend, and draw it to the back.

Good, lift, extend, draw it to the back.

Standing up nice and tall, make sure your head is right above your shoulders, your chin is pulled in.

Last one, don't rest, lift that leg out to the side.

Good, lift and hold.

Now if your toes have turned up, rotate, I want the toes pointing forward, the ankle pointing out, or up, and down.

Good, lift with the ankle on the outside.

Lift.

Core is tight.

And switching sides.

All right?

Stabilize, make sure that your broomstick is in the right spot.

Lift that knee up, extend to the front, go as slow as you need to.

Find something to focus on that's not moving.

That will help your balance.

Okay, bear down in your core.

Use the other arm, [inhales] extend, draw it back.

There's no momentum; everything's slow and controlled.

Knee up, extend, sweep it down, and to the back.

Good job.

All right, don't put the foot down yet.

We're stabilizing.

And then lift that leg out to the side.

[inhales] Your standing leg's getting tired?

That's good; challenging and conditioning those smaller tendons and ligaments around and in the joints.

One more.

Three more, five more.

Just do a few more.

Hold it there, stomach in, and release, good job.

All right, take this outside leg, we'll do a final stretch, and I'd like you to sweep it around behind you, find your toes, and then press that heel down.

Adjust so you feel stable, that outside arm lifts, lift bigger, stretch those ribs, let the hand fall over the head and look at the floor.

It's one of my favorite stretches.

Let's switch sides.

Okay, the outside leg, let's draw it around, cross it behind you, find those toes and the heel, bend the knees, make it comfortable.

Outside arm up, [inhales] reach, stretch through those ribs, exhale, [exhales] turn the face and look at the floor.

I just love this stretch; it feels so good.

Feels so good.

And I hope you found that fun.

Exercise needs to be fun sometimes to keep our interest, and it needs to provide a great value-to-time ratio.

I hope you find great value for the time you put in here, and invite a friend to join you next time at pbswisconsin.org/quickfit, so together, you can experience aging well.

Until tomorrow, keep on moving.

– Announcer: Funding for Quick Fit with Cassy is provided by Greg and Carol Griffin, founders of ElderSpan Management, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.